Military chaplaincy (Austria)

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Catholic military chaplaincy

In 1773, with the reorganization of the military pastoral care by Empress Maria Theresia , the bishop of Wiener Neustadt, Johann Heinrich von Kerens , took over the leadership of the military pastoral care as the first diocesan bishop - as apostolic field vicar.

In the course of the army reform in 1869, the kuk military chaplaincy was reorganized . The territory of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was divided into as many military and pastoral areas as the 15 military territorial districts. In addition to the Catholic military chaplains, Protestant, Orthodox and Islamic military chaplains were also installed (Jewish military chaplains were only provided in the event of war).

Military pastoral care in the Second Republic

On October 4, 1956, the Council of Ministers decided to set up military chaplaincy in the Second Republic. With the decree of the Holy Consistorial Congregation of February 21, 1959, the then Archbishop of Vienna, Franz Cardinal König , was appointed by Pope Johannes XXIII. appointed as his deputy in this pastoral care area, Vicarius Castrensis ( military vicar ) of the Austrian Armed Forces.

Organizationally, with a decree of April 5, 1960, the military vicariate and the Protestant military pastoral office were set up as departments directly subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Defense.

On December 14, 1963, König ceremoniously took over St. George's Church in the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt . This tied in with the traditional relationship between military chaplaincy and this city. In spite of his numerous other duties, König held the function of military vicar until May 7, 1969. During his term of office there was a personal and organizational consolidation of the military chaplaincy in the armed forces.

In February 1969, the Working Group of Catholic Soldiers was constituted as a Catholic Action of the Military Pastoral Care, whose members had previously supported the military chaplains individually or in smaller groups.

Because of the high workload of the Vienna Archbishop König, he had to resign from his position as military vicar. Pope Paul VI appointed Bishop Franz Žak , diocesan bishop of St. Pölten, as new military vicar on May 8, 1969 . Žak was the fifth bishop of the diocese of St. Pölten to head the military chaplaincy.

In April 1974, the first parish council elections took place in Austria , so that military parish councils were also elected for the first time in the field of the military vicariate.

The development of the army in the period after 1973 was shaped by the concept of space defense . The increased importance of reserve forces, the militia , as well as Austria's participation in peacekeeping operations of the United Nations (u. A. Through deployment of the Austrian UN contingents in Cyprus and the Golan Heights) were reflected in the design of the military chaplaincy. The increase in the number of reserve associations as well as the military chaplaincy in the two UN contingents resulted in an increased involvement of chaplains from the civilian sector as military chaplains for the reserve.

On August 10, 1983, the military vicar issued a decree on military chaplaincy in the armed forces. The area of ​​jurisdiction of the military vicar, the tasks of the military provisional and the military vicariate, the military parishes with their official seat and the most important tasks of the military chaplain were presented. In this decree, the term military bishop is used for the first time parallel to the term military vicar .

In the same year, the new Codex Iuris Canonici came into force on the 1st Sunday in Advent . In March 1984 summarizing guidelines for the “military chaplaincy service in the armed forces” were issued, which apply to both Catholic and Protestant military chaplaincy. They primarily deal with the goals and implementation of life science lessons, pastoral care and organizational and administrative matters relating to military pastoral care.

Milestone Apostolic Constitution Spirituali militum curae

Until the apostolic constitution Spirituali militum curae was passed by Pope John Paul II on April 21, 1986, the full episcopal rights for military chaplaincy rested with the Pope. If the bishop responsible for the military chaplaincy was so far as Vicarius Castrensis deputy of the Pope for this area, now the full episcopal rights were transferred to a bishop of the respective state. The Apostolic Constitution now provided for the possibility of appointing a separate military bishop who was on an equal footing with a diocesan bishop. His jurisdiction is cumulative to that of the respective responsible diocesan bishop.

On November 12, 1986 Pope John Paul II appointed the previous secretary of the Austrian Bishops' Conference, Prelate Alfred Kostelecky , as the first military bishop of Austria. With the solemn consecration of Kostelecky on December 14, 1986 in the Cathedral of Stephan in Vienna by Archbishop Hans Hermann Cardinal Groer , a new chapter began in the history of Austrian military pastoral care . With the assumption of his office as military bishop of Austria Kostelecky began the face of the “10. Diocese ” to change gradually.

On April 15, 1987, the military vicariate was renamed Military Ordinary and the organs and councils necessary for the administration of the diocese were formed by the now military Ordinary. As far as functions were to be performed by laypeople, the military bishop primarily consulted members of the Working Group of Catholic Soldiers (AKS).

The task now was to take the measures that had become necessary due to the new canonical situation in the shortest possible time. In addition, a number of personnel measures had to be prepared and initiated in order to maintain and, if possible, consolidate the existing structure of the military chaplaincy.

In addition to his special involvement in questions of canon law, Alfred Kostelecky was also connected to church history and tradition, as his numerous functions made clear. It was always important to him to show historical references and to establish a connection to the present. He was instrumental in ensuring that the then diocese of Wiener Neustadt , which was abolished in 1783, became a titular diocese . Pope John Paul II then complied on February 10, 1990 with his wish to be transferred to this diocese.

For the first time in December 1988, Federal Minister Robert Lichal issued a fundamental decree on the special features of the service for members of religious minorities (primarily for Muslims and Jews). Whereas the previously issued regulations on religious matters were almost exclusively intended for Christian soldiers, now a regulation of their religious practice during their service in the armed forces has been issued for believers of other state-recognized religious communities.

After Kostelecky's death, Christian Werner took over the management of the military ordinariate on February 22, 1994 as a military professor. Werner's particular concerns are pastoral care and European cooperation among military chaplains on a European and international level.

At the moment (2006) there are 22 Catholic military chaplains in the armed forces.

Military parish

A military parish was a quasi-parish for members of the military and their families. In Austria there are currently (2018) 16 military parishes, plus three abroad at locations where the armed forces are deployed on international missions (as of February 2018: Bosnia , Kosovo and Lebanon ).

Protestant military chaplaincy

The Protestant military chaplaincy is subordinate to the Oberkirchenrat of the Evangelical Church A. u. HB in Austria . At the moment (2020) there are 7 Protestant military pastors in the army under the direction of military superintendent Karl-Reinhart Trauner . The seat of the military superintendent is in Vienna in AG Spannocchi (formerly AG Stiftgasse) in the 7th district of Vienna. The evangelical military pastoral care is divided into seven pastoral care areas. In addition to the pastoral care of the military senior (responsible for the central office of the BMLV and subordinate offices in Vienna), in Lower Austria, Burgenland (also looks after the troops and offices of MilKdo Vienna), Carinthia and Upper Austria, military parishes are assigned to the military commanders, in Styria and Salzburg the Military parish subordinated to the armed forces command. The provinces of Tyrol and Vorarlberg also belong to the military parish of Salzburg.

Jewish military chaplaincy

Pastoral care of Jewish soldiers, who had only been admitted to military service under Emperor Joseph II in 1788 , was initially not planned. The need for pastoral care for the increasing number of Jewish soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian Army was discussed intensively in 1866 and in 1874 Rabbi Alexander Kisch (1848–1917) was appointed the reserve's first field rabbi . Local civil rabbis looked after Jewish soldiers in peacetime. The religious care of the Jewish soldiers is currently carried out on behalf of the chief rabbi .

Islamic military chaplaincy

With the levying of Bosnian recruits after the occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1881 and thus the existence of Islamic soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian army, special regulations were issued to safeguard the religious needs and customs of the Bosnian conscripts. In 1882, with the appointment of field imams, an Islamic military chaplaincy was set up and a military mosque was set up.

Due to the growing proportion of Muslims in the Austrian population, the question of institutionalized Islamic military pastoral care has become topical again at the beginning of the 21st century. Currently (2020) the Islamic military pastoral care is carried out by two pastors, one each for Eastern and Western Austria.

The military pastoral care for the Alevis in the armed forces is carried out by the President of the Alevi Faith Community in Austria.

See also

literature

  • Claudia Reichl-Ham: Past and Present Military Pastoral Care , M&S Special Issue 4, 2005 ( PDF )
  • Wilhelm Güde: Rabbi Dr. Alexander Kisch as the kk Landwehr rabbi. At the same time, a small contribution about the beginnings of Jewish military pastoral care in Austria-Hungary. In: Jewish Soldiers-Jewish Resistance in Germany and France. Edited by Michael Berger and Gideon Römer-Hillebrecht. Paderborn, Munich, Vienna, Zurich 2012, pp. 180–196.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Directory of Austrian military parishes at www.bundesheer.at, accessed on February 26, 2018
  2. Ministry of National Defense and Sport: statement Gazette I . Ed .: BMLVS. Volume 2017, No. 20 .. Vienna March 17, 2017.
  3. ^ Supervision of the armed forces: military chaplaincy . Retrieved May 28, 2020.